Get started with Infra

Create a project, a private network, and your first droplet.

Create a project and deploy a droplet on a private network to establish an initial Infra environment. This procedure uses the console and a Linux cloud image.

PrerequisitesCopy link

• Membership in an organization with permission to create projects, or access to an existing project as Project Operator.
• An available region with healthy compute and storage capacity.
• A public SSH key for an account you control.
• For owned hardware, at least one enrolled node with KVM available.
• For hosted capacity from a self-hosted control plane, a connected Connector.

Create a projectCopy link

Open Organization → Projects → Create project. Enter payments as the name, assign the owning team, and select the regions the project can use. Apply a quota before granting the project to other operators.

Select the new project in the console header. Lists and creation forms use that project scope. The organization fleet remains visible only to members with fleet access.

Create a private networkCopy link

Open Networking → Networks → Create network. Select a region, name the network production, and create the IPv4 subnet 10.42.0.0/24. Leave external routes unset for this first deployment.

Wait for the network operation to succeed. Open its details and confirm that the subnet is Ready. Private networks describe address reservation and routing if this range overlaps an existing environment.

Register an SSH keyCopy link

Open Project settings → SSH keys → Add key. Paste the public key and name it platform-admin. Infra validates the public-key format and shows its fingerprint. Do not paste a private key.

Keys selected during creation are written to the image's default login account. Changing the project key registry later does not edit accounts inside existing droplets. See Guest access for key rotation and console access.

Create the dropletCopy link

Open Compute → Droplets → Create droplet and set the fields described in this section.

Name the droplet web-01. Select the same region as production, an available Ubuntu cloud image, and a supported size with 2 vCPU and 4 GiB memory. Give its root volume 30 GiB on the replicated storage policy available to this project.

Attach the production network and select the platform-admin public key. Add service=web and environment=production as labels. Leave the public address unset; the guest initially has a private endpoint only.

The size and storage selection must satisfy the image's minimum requirements. If the region offers different named sizes, inspect their configured vCPU and memory rather than selecting by display name alone.

Review placement, quota usage, and estimated charges, then select Create droplet. Open the returned operation. Wait for Succeeded, then check that the droplet is Running and its guest initialization has completed.

An unavailable image, insufficient capacity, or exhausted quota prevents creation. The operation details identify whether resources were reserved or partially created. Follow Troubleshooting before retrying.

Verify access and healthCopy link

Use a private network connection or a temporary public address. Apply a firewall that allows SSH only from your administrator address range. Before connecting, confirm the SSH host-key fingerprint through the serial console.

From a terminal with a route to the droplet, connect with SSH:

ssh GUEST_USER@DROPLET_ADDRESS

Replace the following:

• GUEST_USER: the login username shown in the image details.
• DROPLET_ADDRESS: the address shown in the droplet's Networking details.

Confirm that SSH opens a shell in the intended guest. If the connection fails, follow Recover access before changing its firewall or keys. Open the droplet's Metrics tab to check memory, CPU, and network samples. Missing guest metrics can indicate that the guest agent has not started; host metrics remain available separately.

Protect the deploymentCopy link

Enable deletion protection, attach a backup policy, and create a capacity alert. For a public service, place droplets behind a load balancer and verify application health before adding DNS records.

Remove the example resourcesCopy link

Follow Delete a droplet, selecting the example root volume for removal in the deletion review. Wait for the deletion operation to reach Succeeded. Release any public address, delete unused firewall policies, and delete the empty network. Check Project → Usage for retained backups and volumes before removing the project.